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Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Pity Me (NZ265455)

What an odd-sounding place-name! And we
can’t sweep past this little outpost to the north of Durham City without having
a bash at its derivation. Truth is, no-one seems to have the definitive answer,
no matter what they say. Take your pick…

Theory No.1 – it is derived from the French
petite mer (or the Norman petit mere), meaning ‘little sea’
(perhaps meant as ironic, given the arid nature of the land thereabouts);

Theory No.2 – it is a corruption of ‘petty
mere’ (small lake)

Theory No.3 – it is a corruption of ‘peaty
mere’ (peaty lake);

Theory No.4 – it is a corruption of
‘pithead mere’ (a boggy area into which the water from pithead pumps was dumped);

Theory No.5 – it is a corruption of ‘pitty
mea’, meaning a pitted/uneven meadow;

Theory No.6 – it is from old British/Celtic
words meaning ‘field of graves’ (Beddan
Maes);

Theory No.7 – “a whimsical name bestowed in
the nineteenth century on a place considered desolate, exposed or difficult to
cultivate” (Mills, A. D., The Oxford
Dictionary of British Place Names);

Theory No.8 – The monks carrying the coffin
of Cuthbert dropped it near this spot – the saint imploring them to take pity
on him and resume their task with more care;

Theory No.9 – during a flight from
a Viking raid, a group of monks stopped there and sang the 51st
Psalm, the Latin version of which includes the words Miserere mei, Deus, which can be delivered in English as “Pity me,
O God”.

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